Burn Rate - The Venture Insider Podcast [AI-Translated]

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the key developments shaping the Swiss startup and venture capital ecosystem at the start of 2026. The news segment covers the first closing of Übermorgen Ventures’ climate-tech fund at CHF 55 million, a new IFJ report showing record company formations alongside a sharp rise in bankruptcies, and the 10-year anniversary of Tenity, which is repo...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the key developments from the Swiss startup and venture-capital ecosystem. Topics include the launch of the EPFL and UBS AI Launchpad to support AI spin-offs, SwissHealth Ventures doubling the size of its evergreen digital-health fund to CHF 100 million, and Switzerland heading toward a record M&A year in 2025 despite a strong Swiss franc. The...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most important developments in the Swiss startup and venture capital ecosystem in November 2025. We open with the Market Snapshot, covering investment volumes, deal activity, and exits — including a strong month with CHF 425M invested and the acquisition of SixPeaks by AstraZeneca. In the Deep Dive, we analyze four standout deep-tech tr...

In this episode of Burn Rate – The VC Insider Podcast, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most important developments in the Swiss and European startup ecosystem. We start with the Boldbrain Startup Challenge 2025, where Healthtech, Biotech and AI companies dominated the top spots. We then dive into Black Forest Labs’ $300M Series B — the one-year-old German AI startup whose Flux models...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most exciting developments of the week in the startup and VC ecosystem. We discuss Flexion’s impressive $50M Series A to build the “brain” of humanoid robots, the new European Spinout Report 2025 where Switzerland dominates Europe’s deep-tech spin-off landscape, and Google’s strong return to the AI frontier with Gemini 3. Our deep dive...

This week Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi cover several major highlights from the Swiss tech ecosystem: the new CHF 172m Swisscanto Growth Fund, Wyss Zurich’s impressive 10-year track record, and why Peter Thiel fully exited his Nvidia position — adding fuel to the ongoing debate around an AI market bubble. Our deep dive features Malaica, a health-tech startup reinventing pregnancy and postpartum ca...

Burn Rate – Deal of the Month: Nexthink, DeepJudge, and Corintis In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi dive into the most exciting developments in the Swiss startup and VC ecosystem of October 2025. After a full market snapshot covering all financing rounds, total investment volumes, and exits, the episode moves into a deep dive on three standout transactions: – the >USD 3B exit of Nexthi...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the most exciting developments in the European venture capital ecosystem: MYNERVA wins the Diamond Award at the 10th MassChallenge Switzerland Awards, McKinsey highlights a historic $1 trillion deep-tech opportunity for Europe, and ENSOY announces the shutdown of its production at the end of November. In the main segment, Max and Guy wrap up t...

n this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi dive into the latest developments in the European venture capital ecosystem: - GetYourGuide reaches profitability for the first time with nearly €1 billion in annual revenue. - Europe’s VCs are deploying capital twice as fast as they’re raising new funds. - Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital are launching new mega-funds totaling over $11 bi...

Burn Rate – Episode 68: Venture Partners, Angels, and AI-Science Startups Welcome to the latest edition of the Burn Rate Newsletter. We summarize the key topics from our current podcast episode – including the news of the week, the deep-dive topic, listener question, and transactions of the week. If you find our work valuable, feel free to share this newsletter within your network. News of the Wee...

In the new episode of Burn Rate – The VC Insider Podcast, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the latest news from the startup and VC ecosystem: Exploris Health x Roche – The Basel-based digital health startup is expanding globally with its AI-powered solution for early detection of coronary heart disease, partnering with Roche as a global distributor. YC Arena: Think Like a Partner – A Berlin s...

Burn Rate – Deal of the Month: Lakera, Auterion & Deskbird In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi take a deep dive into the most exciting developments in Switzerland’s startup and VC ecosystem for September 2025. After a Market Snapshot reviewing all funding rounds, volumes, and exits, they explore three standout transactions in detail: – the USD 300 million exit of Lakera. AI to Check Poi...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss some of the week’s most exciting news: the planned IPO of TravelPerk (which acquired Swiss startup Yokoy), the employee share buyback at Checkout.com, and the sentencing of Charlie Javice in the U.S. Our deep dive focuses on continuation funds – with special guest Oliver Holle, founder and managing partner of Speedinvest. We explore why this f...

In the new episode of Burn Rate, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most important developments in the startup and VC ecosystem from the past week. Highlights include MoveAgain’s acquisition of MOVU, Teylor’s M&A push in fintech, the launch of the first cohort of the HSG START Accelerator, and Nvidia’s planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI. For the deep dive, we’re joined by Michael...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss three major stories in the startup and VC ecosystem: the USD 300m exit of Lakera to Check Point, the Swiss National Bank emerging as a silent tech giant, and OpenAI’s updated financial plan with more than USD 115bn in spending through 2029. The deep dive explores how artificial intelligence is rewriting the startup playbook – inspired by Andre...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi take a closer look at the Swiss VC ecosystem in August 2025: Which funding rounds and volumes shaped the month – and how does Switzerland compare on the international stage? The deep dive highlights three key transactions: - the CHF 180M exit of Daedalean to Destinus, - the USD 24M Series B of Loft Dynamics, - and the USD 3.4M seed round of Scanvio. M...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi cover the week’s news, including the launch of Apertus, Switzerland’s new open-source LLM, Voliro’s acquisition of Sixpec’s intellectual property, and Enerdrape’s flagship U.S. projects. For the deep dive, they sit down with Michi Baier to unpack the ins and outs of term sheets and how deal terms have evolved in recent years. In the listener question,...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss robot-powered döner deliveries, the upcoming IPO of Swedish buy-now-pay-later scaleup Klarna, and the rise of a “new” share class — Founder Preferred Shares. For our deep dive, we turn to a study by Professor Jay Ritter, examining U.S. tech IPOs from the 1990s to today and how the push to go public has evolved. We also feature the current crow...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss a negative record: the number of Swiss startup liquidations in the first half of 2025. They then turn to the upcoming billion-franc exit of Ublox and the return of U.S. VCs to the European market. In the listener question, they address whether voting-rights shares make sense for founders in Switzerland. For the deep dive, guest Lucas Mittelmei...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the summer’s standout deals — including the USD 225 million exit of Daedalean to Destinus, the USD 8.9 million investment in CREAL led by Zeiss, and Modulos’ CHF 8.7 million funding round. In the news, they cover the current state of the Swiss VC ecosystem in a global context, the concentration of capital among a handful of U.S. VC funds, and...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss current topics such as Climeworks' USD 162 million financing round led by Partners Group, the planned USD 1 billion fundraise by Mistral with MGX, and how the talent war for top AI researchers has massively inflated employee equity packages — as the OpenAI case illustrates. The main topic dives into Switzerland’s potential to emerge as a globa...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss current topics such as the record number of new company incorporations in the first half of 2025 and Peter Thiel’s headline-making interview in the New York Times. Our main topic is a deep dive into the newly published Swiss Deep Tech Report, which outlines both the opportunities and challenges in Switzerland’s Deep Tech ecosystem. We then tac...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi dive into current topics including the 2025 Climate Foundation Switzerland awards for 11 climate-focused innovations, the stealthy retreat of OpenAI and Jony Ive’s iO project, and Andreessen Horowitz’s investment in the controversial “Cheat at Everything” startup Cluely. Our main segment focuses on the return of defense technologies in Europe – and ho...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss current topics such as the W.A. de Vigier Foundation Awards being granted to six startups, Helsing’s €600 million Series D, and the acquisition of 23andMe out of bankruptcy by founder Anne Wojcicki. In our main segment, we talk about the Upscaler program with Peter Stähli—entrepreneur, investor, and Head of Entrepreneurship at the Upscaler—bef...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss current topics including the Swiss Economic Forum Startup Awards, which went to DePoly, Kyan Health, and Lumvin; the Trends in Artificial Intelligence report by Mary Meeker and Bond Capital; and the growing a16z scout network in Europe. Our main topic focuses on the challenges faced by startups in their growth stage – the so-called scale-ups....